Well.... I finally gave up the motto "drive fast, take chances" for "drive slow, take chances" when I recently bought a 86' 4runner .

As I have not owned 4wd vehicles in the past and this a new experience for me. I have a couple questions regarding driving in 4 wheel drive. (I apoligize in advance for the length as well as simplicity.... )

1. We had some frozen rain the past few days which iced up the streets pretty good so I figured it would be a great time to try out the 4wd. Traction was great when compared to 2wd. My concern is that at times the truck seemed to really pull to the side of the street and I had to be quite carefull to keep between the lines. I am not sure if this was just a result of one tire having better traction then the others... or if this is normal in 4wd. I had a similar experience on gravel roads. When driving in 4wd it requires more effort to keep the truck heading in a straight line then when in 2wd.
-- Is this normal?

2. When driving with my hubs locked in 2wd at highway speeds I hear a pulsating vibration... I dont hear this when my hubs are free. I realize there is more turning when they are locked and is probably the reason for the noise.
-- Once again is this normal?

3. I have a heck of a time trying to shift from 4wd back into 2wd while driving... When stopped I usually dont have a problem. Are their any tricks to this I should know? I have tried everything.


I have been reading various forums for the past few months and am hooked... Just need some learning and experience now .
Thanks for the help....

 

#3 Take your foot off the gas a bit. This will reduce the force on the gears in the driveline and make shifting out of 4wd easier.

 

Sweet truck, nice to have another 86 on here.

Heres some possible answers to your questions.

#1. Are your tires the same size on all four corners? Are the air pressures close to being equal?

#2. Yes its normal to feel more vibrations with the hubs locked driving at high speeds because the half shafts, front drive shaft and your transfer case gears are now turning. Not to mention U-joints and CV joints also.

#3. Like Glenn said try coasting alittle to make shifting easier.

 

another suggestion for #3 is to apply pressure to the t-case stick and gently bounce the throttle, that will unload the bind between the front and rear driveshafts, works for me

 

#2 is normal - more stuff is moving so there's more noise.

#1 and #3 sound like symptoms that one tire is slightly smaller or has less air pressure. if one tire is different size (probably a front tire since you're noticing it in 4wd) then it could cause some pulling to one side. also since it'd be turning at a slightly different rate it would cause some binding which would make it hard to shift back out of 4wd.

 

#3, not only ease up on the gas, also be sure to drive straight ahead while trying to shift out of 4wd. Takes the bind off the Tcase.

 

Well I looked at the front tires and they are the same size and have the same pressure. - I will soon be replacing all 4 so hopefully I will see sometype of impovement when I do that.

As for the shifting back into 2wd I tried all of your advice and unfortunately nothing works... The only sucess I have is when I am stopped on a slight incline or rolling backwards.
How much pressure should I be putting on the stick?

Any other ideas?